SHAH ALAM, Jan 4 — The owner of a driving school in Taman Sri Muda in Section 25 here could only sigh after seeing the premises he has been operating from for almost 23 years completely damaged by the floods of Dec 18 last year.
ManduCekap Hi_Tec Sdn Bhd chairman and owner E. Vennarajan estimated his loss at RM350,000, as he would have to repair all damaged facilities, electrical equipment and vehicles at the driving school, just three months after the centre resumed operations in mid-September 2021.
“Our premises suffered 100 per cent damage, including equipment in the office. Kurikulum Pendidikan Pemandu (KPP) books for students, and students’ L and P licences were also damaged and scattered about and we could not salvage them to be distributed to students on Monday (Dec 20).
“A total of 50 cars, 33 motorcycles including three high-powered motorcycles, two Hino lorries, all for the use of student training, could not be removed before the incident because the outside area was flooded. We were besieged and at that time I just had to accept what happened,” he said when met by Bernama here today.
He said the driving school area was not usually flooded even when flash floods hit before because of its slightly higher location than other places in Taman Sri Muda.
“This time, the water rose to 1.6 metres and remained for up to three days. No one expected it as in the history of this driving school, there has never been a flood like this.
“But we will still try our best to reopen this school so that it can operate next Wednesday (Jan 12),” said Vennarajan, who was monitoring the cleaning and repair works at the driving school.
Asked whether the driving school would be relocated to a safer place, he said it had crossed his mind due to the huge losses he had suffered.
“But then people in Shah Alam already know this place. When there is a flood, I have a plan to relocate the office at the school to a higher area that may reduce the impact of floods after this,” he said.
He said the Selangor Road Transport Department would help him manage KPP books and damaged students’ driving licences.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency